Ground beef hit $6.74/lb in May, up 16% in a year. The DOJ probes foreign-owned packers JBS and National Beef over alleged price-fixing in a concentrated market.
Good article, but it would have been more complete with a brief discussion of the ridiculous big company lobbied rules regarding meat processing. Local ranchers ought to be able to process their own meat locally and bring it to market. Period, full stop. But they aren't allowed to, because... assholes, I mean congress.
In my state, farmers are doing that very thing. They are marketing grass fed and finished meat from farm to market, albeit it private homes not the grocery stores. People would like a healthy option and farmers need to have the ability to have their herds processed locally and sold to local grocery stores. This would be a winner for all involved from farm to table.
We now buy just about all of our meat (beef, chicken, pork, lamb) from a (used to be) regional provider that sources only from pasture fed, grass fed and finished farmers and ranchers.
Another part of the problem with the consolidation of the Big Meat conglomerates...is that they overshadow the local communities. The rancher that wants to go to a local finisher for example. And, federal and state laws, paid for by Big Meat, that restrict how local operations can function.
The local meat processor has all but disappeared. The local farmer has to drive their cattle hundreds of miles to get them processed. This problem is compounded by the government. Bring back local processing, it would be a start for local ranchers.
Thank you President Trump and Secretary Rollins for seeking to prevent foreign owned meatpackers from eliminating competition and illegally raising prices.
Would you like to thank him for budding up with Bill Gates, who is a huge part of what’s going on with the toxins and horrible food that we are being sold in stores? Not to mention all of the other heinous crimes he has committed and he still walking around among us. Get a brain. They are all the same. They don’t care about us. It’s all a horse and pony show. If Trump actually cared about our food supply, he wouldn’t have bowed down to Bayer and brought Gates into the White House. Not to mention the BS supposed new food dyes that they are putting into place that are supposed to be healthy. It’s just another processed freaking dye. They tell you they’re doing something good but they actually aren’t doing a damn thing that’s good or healthy. Go look into who owns those companies that are making these new healthy dyes. It’s all lies.
In listening to Secretary Rollins earlier today she says the cattleman have never been happier than now with such DEMAND for their product. The issue is HERD SIZE that has to be built up in America and not thru importing. Everyone I know WANTS quality BEEF products going forward. We KNOW Bill Gates hates hearing that! LOL
If US beef producers could sell and process their own meat, we wouldn't have this problem. If egg producers could sell and process their own eggs. If dairy producers could sell their own dairy products. The list goes on. Our current system is all about paying and electing politicians, not about affordable food for US citizens by US citizens.
...and my brother was wondering why I was begging for more deer meat the past 2 years! A senior on social security needs protein, but the price of roast beef kept giving me sticker shock. NOW I KNOW WHY! AND A FOREIGN COMPANY BOUGHT MY FAVORITE BACON PRODUCER...SMITHFIELD. WE NEED TO KICK THEM ALL OUT OF AMERICA. BACK INTO BRAZIL!
Everyone saying 'local meat processing' is spot on. If you're able, consider becoming a recurring donor to an org with an incredible track record at supporting small farmers and ranchers -- mostly in TX, but also nationally, and expanding. Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance.
Over 10 years ago we started hearing about this issue and it is yet another issue that only President Trump wants to address. We have been reading for a few years now that most of the beef sold in California is coming from Brasil. Now we have to claw back another industry, and special interests will make that a long battle. Vigilance is required every day because every industry is under attack.
Trump doesn’t care about our food supply. I wish you people would see that everybody in Washington are all the same and only look out for themselves and they don’t give a crap about us. If he cared about our food, he would not have bowed down to Bayer and continue to allow all the toxins all over our food and environment. He wouldn’t have Bill Gates of the White House budding up with him if he really cared about what’s going on with our food because everyone in this country knows Bill Gates is behind all this crap. The sooner people start to realize that no one in Washington really cares about us the better off our citizens will be. It’s time to start choosing between left and right and choosing between citizens and the government.
Stop the spread of hate, we need to unite as Americans to save our very lives! I do believe Trump shows more caring with his administration then anyone has!
How about we not get our meat from other countries. How about we get it from our country like we used to. What are we doing instead? We allow Bill Gates to buy all the farmland. We allow him to force farmers to use seeds no one wants to use. He doesn’t think we should have cattle also, where do you think a lot of this is coming from? Do you honestly think we believe that it’s coming from other countries alone? We aren’t stupid. Instead of prosecuting Gates for all of the heinous things he’s done y’all bring him to the damn White House. Shameful and disgusting.
The article completely missed one issue in that to be able to process meat in the US, you need a USDA meat inspector on premise. The US requires HAACP programs to be in place, which should help to remove that need. FDA inspected food processing plants do not have that requirement and are just as likely to have bacterial or labeling issues as meat.
The number the article skips is the herd. USDA counted 86.2 million head on January 1, the smallest since 1951. Drought from 2021 to 2023 forced ranchers to sell off breeding cows, and a cow runs about two years from breeding decision to slaughter weight, so supply cannot refill fast. Record prices slow the rebuild further, because growing the herd means holding heifers back instead of selling them, and replacement heifers grew 1 percent this year. That gap is the $6.74 ground beef.
The packer math is worth tracking. The Big Four run about 85 percent of slaughter, and JBS paid $52.5 million in 2022 over alleged cattle-slaughter suppression. But that squeeze works over years, on what the rancher gets paid. Tyson, the biggest processor, just posted another quarterly loss in its beef business, and a price-fixing gouge does not lose money on its own product.
Two of the Big Four are Brazilian. The other two, Cargill and Tyson, are American. The foreign-cartel frame names the Brazilian pair and walks past the American one. And the same officials calling Brazilian beef a threat to America are moving to quadruple low-tariff beef imports from Argentina. The thing to watch is whether the probe reaches Cargill and Tyson, or stops at the companies with foreign passports.
Good information, this is a threat to America and Must be Stopped. Really people you care more about a reflection pool than the lives of Americans. Get your shit together, MSM is also a threat! Not reporting the truth!
Good article, but it would have been more complete with a brief discussion of the ridiculous big company lobbied rules regarding meat processing. Local ranchers ought to be able to process their own meat locally and bring it to market. Period, full stop. But they aren't allowed to, because... assholes, I mean congress.
In my state, farmers are doing that very thing. They are marketing grass fed and finished meat from farm to market, albeit it private homes not the grocery stores. People would like a healthy option and farmers need to have the ability to have their herds processed locally and sold to local grocery stores. This would be a winner for all involved from farm to table.
We now buy just about all of our meat (beef, chicken, pork, lamb) from a (used to be) regional provider that sources only from pasture fed, grass fed and finished farmers and ranchers.
Another part of the problem with the consolidation of the Big Meat conglomerates...is that they overshadow the local communities. The rancher that wants to go to a local finisher for example. And, federal and state laws, paid for by Big Meat, that restrict how local operations can function.
The local meat processor has all but disappeared. The local farmer has to drive their cattle hundreds of miles to get them processed. This problem is compounded by the government. Bring back local processing, it would be a start for local ranchers.
Just when you typed this I sent the same comment. Yours is more polite. Totally agree.
Thank you President Trump and Secretary Rollins for seeking to prevent foreign owned meatpackers from eliminating competition and illegally raising prices.
Would you like to thank him for budding up with Bill Gates, who is a huge part of what’s going on with the toxins and horrible food that we are being sold in stores? Not to mention all of the other heinous crimes he has committed and he still walking around among us. Get a brain. They are all the same. They don’t care about us. It’s all a horse and pony show. If Trump actually cared about our food supply, he wouldn’t have bowed down to Bayer and brought Gates into the White House. Not to mention the BS supposed new food dyes that they are putting into place that are supposed to be healthy. It’s just another processed freaking dye. They tell you they’re doing something good but they actually aren’t doing a damn thing that’s good or healthy. Go look into who owns those companies that are making these new healthy dyes. It’s all lies.
Get thee behind me Satan.
In listening to Secretary Rollins earlier today she says the cattleman have never been happier than now with such DEMAND for their product. The issue is HERD SIZE that has to be built up in America and not thru importing. Everyone I know WANTS quality BEEF products going forward. We KNOW Bill Gates hates hearing that! LOL
I'm not laughing.
No one asked
If US beef producers could sell and process their own meat, we wouldn't have this problem. If egg producers could sell and process their own eggs. If dairy producers could sell their own dairy products. The list goes on. Our current system is all about paying and electing politicians, not about affordable food for US citizens by US citizens.
Beef prices are off the charts! Regulations restricting farmers from processing their own beef need revision.
Food is a national security concern; there should be ZERO foreign owned companies selling food in the United States without 100% tariffs.
...and my brother was wondering why I was begging for more deer meat the past 2 years! A senior on social security needs protein, but the price of roast beef kept giving me sticker shock. NOW I KNOW WHY! AND A FOREIGN COMPANY BOUGHT MY FAVORITE BACON PRODUCER...SMITHFIELD. WE NEED TO KICK THEM ALL OUT OF AMERICA. BACK INTO BRAZIL!
Foreign-owned is not the problem, Bill Gates is! Ban fake, toxic meat.
Everyone saying 'local meat processing' is spot on. If you're able, consider becoming a recurring donor to an org with an incredible track record at supporting small farmers and ranchers -- mostly in TX, but also nationally, and expanding. Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance.
Over 10 years ago we started hearing about this issue and it is yet another issue that only President Trump wants to address. We have been reading for a few years now that most of the beef sold in California is coming from Brasil. Now we have to claw back another industry, and special interests will make that a long battle. Vigilance is required every day because every industry is under attack.
Trump doesn’t care about our food supply. I wish you people would see that everybody in Washington are all the same and only look out for themselves and they don’t give a crap about us. If he cared about our food, he would not have bowed down to Bayer and continue to allow all the toxins all over our food and environment. He wouldn’t have Bill Gates of the White House budding up with him if he really cared about what’s going on with our food because everyone in this country knows Bill Gates is behind all this crap. The sooner people start to realize that no one in Washington really cares about us the better off our citizens will be. It’s time to start choosing between left and right and choosing between citizens and the government.
Stop the spread of hate, we need to unite as Americans to save our very lives! I do believe Trump shows more caring with his administration then anyone has!
How about we not get our meat from other countries. How about we get it from our country like we used to. What are we doing instead? We allow Bill Gates to buy all the farmland. We allow him to force farmers to use seeds no one wants to use. He doesn’t think we should have cattle also, where do you think a lot of this is coming from? Do you honestly think we believe that it’s coming from other countries alone? We aren’t stupid. Instead of prosecuting Gates for all of the heinous things he’s done y’all bring him to the damn White House. Shameful and disgusting.
The article completely missed one issue in that to be able to process meat in the US, you need a USDA meat inspector on premise. The US requires HAACP programs to be in place, which should help to remove that need. FDA inspected food processing plants do not have that requirement and are just as likely to have bacterial or labeling issues as meat.
By the time you’re done investigating, we’re broke
The number the article skips is the herd. USDA counted 86.2 million head on January 1, the smallest since 1951. Drought from 2021 to 2023 forced ranchers to sell off breeding cows, and a cow runs about two years from breeding decision to slaughter weight, so supply cannot refill fast. Record prices slow the rebuild further, because growing the herd means holding heifers back instead of selling them, and replacement heifers grew 1 percent this year. That gap is the $6.74 ground beef.
The packer math is worth tracking. The Big Four run about 85 percent of slaughter, and JBS paid $52.5 million in 2022 over alleged cattle-slaughter suppression. But that squeeze works over years, on what the rancher gets paid. Tyson, the biggest processor, just posted another quarterly loss in its beef business, and a price-fixing gouge does not lose money on its own product.
Two of the Big Four are Brazilian. The other two, Cargill and Tyson, are American. The foreign-cartel frame names the Brazilian pair and walks past the American one. And the same officials calling Brazilian beef a threat to America are moving to quadruple low-tariff beef imports from Argentina. The thing to watch is whether the probe reaches Cargill and Tyson, or stops at the companies with foreign passports.
Good information, this is a threat to America and Must be Stopped. Really people you care more about a reflection pool than the lives of Americans. Get your shit together, MSM is also a threat! Not reporting the truth!